Humming noise at highway speeds
I have a 2000 Toyota Camry XLE V6. I couple months ago I got in a minor accident where I veered off the right side of the highway, the car dropped down on a jaggedy edge, and the front right tire and wheel broke. I replaced the wheel and tire, however I now hear a humming noise when I drive. I only hear it at speeds above 55mph and if I drive at certain speeds (ex: 58mph and 69 mph) I hear almost no noise. It is a deep humming noise that is not very loud but definitely noticeable. It pulsates. It will go for about 4 seconds, then stop for a second, then go for another 4 seconds, etc.
I brought it to a mechanic and originally they said it probably needed a new wheel bearing. I brought it in for the replacement, but they said it didn't need a new wheel bearing. They said that a piece of metal bent and was probably touching the brakes at high speeds. They bent the part back and said the noise should go away. However, the noise is still there. Yesterday I brought in the car to the Toyota dealership to get the wheels aligned, since I figured they were probably knocked out of place from the accident and was hoping it would solve the problem. It took about 3 hours to align the wheels, since they said it was very misaligned, the camber needed adjustment, and it was very difficult. They also balanced the tires. It's great to have the wheels aligned, but the noise didn't go away.
Does anyone have any advice on what the noise could be caused from? Could it be a wheel bearing even though the mechanic said it wasn't? Could it be a carrier bearing? I do not have the know-how or tools to jack up the car and diagnose or fix it myself. I would really appreciate if anyone has advice. Thank you.
take a look at the Axle on that side....the tip-off was the destructive resonations at speed...just put it up on the mechanic's lift and look at the amount of travel in the CV joint there~ https://www.google.com/#q=2000+Toyota+Camry+drive+axle&tbm=shop
I think its the wheel bearing
Right now in our fleet of vans we have a fairly new Honda Van which goes through a deep hum or groan every one in a while and we have traced it to the ac compressor cycling. We figure this out because we were getting this when the car was idling. First determine if it is a noise when moving or idling. Try it with ac on and ac off. Then, see if it happens when going straight or turning. Try and see if it is happening under power or when running at a constant speed. If so, what speed? Try coasting and then coast in neutral and see if there is a difference.Try steering in circle left or right to see if it is more predominant.See if the noise echoes loudly while driving at speed along a cement wall. See if you ca tel which side. If you can narrow it down you can help the mechanic a lot. There even could be a loose plastic panel vibrating from being loose.
Hello. I am having the same problem. Was this ever fixed? Thank you.
I have since sold the car and never fully fixed the problem. But I brought the car into the Toyota dealership and got a wheel alignment and it helped a lot but did not completely make the sound go away. The dealership ended up spending about 2-3 hours aligning the car because it was so far off. The alignment issue was due to veering off the side of the highway and breaking a tire and rim.
I realized I already mentioned in my previous post about the alignment. The alignment helped somewhat but didn't solve it.
If you had an alignment problem and it was badly off then it is probable that the mis-alignment caused an uneven ware on the tires and this will cause a humming. Also the tire that you choose may cause excess noise so when you look at replacement you should check the Consumer Reports and Tire Rack and you will find that there are quieter and noisier tires so select carefully. Recently Toyota had a recall on the rear swing arms and bearings which was causing a bad mis-alignment problem and a noisy tire. Even with this or both of the rear tires rotated to the front the noise problem could not be resolved so I had to replace the tires. Toyota replaced the faulty parts and re-aligned the car also. I you have a bad wheel bearing it will make a continuous noise which will generally get louder as you go faster. If you zig-zag and the noise gets louder and quieter it is usually a cv joint but in a straight line it is usually a bearing or a tire. To differentiate between between a bearing or a transmission noise, get up to speed then put your car in neutral and coast and if the noise goes away it would be transmission related and if the noise continues it is usually a bearing or a tire. The most common bearing problem is right front from parking, hitting curbs and potholes on the curb edge.
I have a 2018 Toyota Highlander AWD. It now has 5000 miles on it. From the beginning the car had a vibration in the steering wheel and seat and had a low pitched droning sound starting at about 65 MPH. Toyota has balanced the tires twice and the Toyota factory rep has driven another 2018 Highlander just like mine and confirmed the issue. The rep admits there is an issue but has no idea what is wrong. He told me Toyota isn't going to do anything for me and I'm stuck with this lemon. I trade cars every three years and this is the 4th Toyota in a row I have purchased. It is also the last. My advise to everyone is steer clear of Toyota, their warranty isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
I had the same problem with a noise that increased with speed. It turned out to be the carrier bearing on the right cv axle.
